Pharma News

Lupin enters Indian OTC market

India’s second largest drug company Lupin Ltd has also entered the growing Over the Counter (OTC) market in the country.

Indian OTC market is $ 2.7 billion (Rs 18,862 crore) as on 2016, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 9 percent to cross the $ 6.5 billion (Rs 44,115 crore) mark by 2026. The OTC segment is one of the fastest growing segments in the Indian pharmaceutical market.

Lupin’s Entry into the market:

The Rs 17,119 crore revenue Lupin forayed into the OTC segment by launching a new division – Lupin Life Consumer Healthcare. It has launched Softovac, a 34 year old legacy brand in the treatment of constipation and irregular bowel habits, as an OTC product. The product’s shift from prescription to OTC was piloted in West Bengal where the brand witnessed an over 25 percent growth in sales and a pan-India roll-out was initiated with actor Anil Kapoor as the brand ambassador. Lupin is looking at a turnover of around Rs 300 crore in a couple of years.

Pharma players: In the last few years, drug companies like Cipla, Dr Reddys, Lupin, Sun Pharma have created separate divisions for OTC drug sales. Zydus Cadila has a separate company in Zydus Wellness to tap this opportunity. Mankind sells near ten per cent of its Rs 4000 crore business as OTC products like contraceptive brand Manforce. In 2010, consumer and healthcare company Reckitt Benckiser had paid $742 million to acquire Paras Pharma, a company with a large portfolio of OTC healthcare brands.

A month ago, Nandini Piramal-led Consumer Products Division of the Piramal Enterprises, had acquired a gastro-intestinal product Digeplex and associated brands from Shreya Lifesciences to strengthen its OTC basket. Piramal’s Consumer business, which acquired four OTC brands from Pfizer last year, now has revenues in excess of Rs 375 crore.